Irish Visitors Tour Family Resource Center

April 16, 1997|By ROBIN STANSBURY; Courant Staff Writer

WEST HARTFORD — The folks at Charter Oak School are used to visitors from across the country touring their school and its Family Resource Center. And on Tuesday, the school received its first international guests.

A group from Ireland spent the morning at the West Hartford elementary school, exploring the family-based school as a model for similar programs to be established throughout their country.

The visit was another honor the school has received of late. Already selected as a model school for the nation by Yale University, Charter Oak was recommended as a school for the Irish guests to tour by the state Department of Education, which pays for 30 family resource centers in Connecticut.

``It's very exciting for us and for them,'' said Deborah Zipking, director of the Family Resource Center at Charter Oak. ``I love sharing what we do, and to be able to share it with people from another country is just awesome.''

The contingent is a diverse group -- about 20 educators, parents, community volunteers and government officials -- that hopes to establish as many as 30 community- based centers in Ireland. The centers would serve everyone from the youngest children to the oldest senior citizens, offering such programs as after-school activities, technology centers, programs for women, and preschool.

The visitors focused their attention on Charter Oak's Family Resource Center -- a program which serves children from birth through fifth grade. The center, and a similar program being established at the Smith School, offers seven programs including a homework center, toy-lending library, field trips, before- and after-school programs, parent education, therapy and play groups.

The center opened more than five years ago and last year was chosen by Yale University as a national demonstration site for a ``School of the 21st Century.''

During their two-week visit in the United States, the Irish visitors have traveled from Massachusetts to West Virginia, where they have visited schools and other programs similar to Charter Oak's Family Resource Center, and learned about the U.S. health care system and welfare reform efforts.

``There aren't well-developed community-based programs like this in Ireland,'' said Marie Abbott, the coordinator of the Irish group, as she sat among a dozen young children gathered for play group in the Family Resource Center. ``This is helpful to see something that is farther along so you can see what's possible and take that back with you as motivation.''

Abbott said the group was particularly interested in Charter Oak because of its efforts to involve the entire family in education, even before children reach school age.

``The idea of linking needed support to a school and opening it up to everyone is just wonderful,'' Abbott said.